UFC 137 took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The night’s main card aired
on pay-per-view, and Facebook and Spike TV carried portions of the
preliminary card.

Palaszewski earned his award with a vicious first-round knockout of fellow featherweight Tyson Griffin in one of the night’s two Spike TV fights. Once he backed Griffin against the cage, Palaszewski unloaded the fight-ending and lightning-quick barrage of punches.

In the other Spike TV fight, Cerrone earned his award by default since no other fighter claimed a submission win on the night. However, his rear-naked-choke submission of fellow lightweight contender Dennis Siver concluded another dominant performance for the WEC vet, and it was set up by a flush shin-to-chin head kick and accurate strikes.

Diaz and Penn fought in the heavily anticipated welterweight headliner. After dropping the first round when Penn proved accurate with his strikes, Diaz turned on the heat in the next two rounds and battered the former champion like he’s never been battered before. The assault led him to a unanimous-decision victory and apparently sent Penn into retirement.